We all know the importance of goal-setting as a part of the self-improvement process. Planning for goals is much easier than knowing the path to achieving goals. Many people write down many of their goals on paper and have a dream to achieve them. But very few can reach their destination. Goals are not meant to be shining on paper but in your life. If you look inside the life stories of successful people, you will find how methodically they followed the steps to achieve goals in life. In this article, we will show you different ways how to achieve goals.

11 Easy Steps to Achieve Goals

1. Write down your goals in BIG RED LETTERS

The moment you bring your goals out of your mind on the paper, it becomes a statement. Moreover, writing them down in big red letters, compels you to be committed to them as they become more visible than the words written in black. Besides, looking at your goals every day makes you live with them and finally puts you into action to achieve them.

2. Set SMART goals

A SMART goal is a familiar term in the corporate and business world. The word SMART represents Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. So, your goals should have these attributes in order to be achieved easily. When you set SMART goals, you become more realistic in your approach. Not only this, but it also helps you to become more confident and enthusiastic about accomplishing them. Besides, there are always fewer chances for failure in this case.

3. Prioritize your goals

No matter how many goals you have in your life, you must divide your goals or tasks according to their importance in your life. So, you can divide them into 4 categories. They are:

• Urgent and important
• Important but not urgent
• Urgent but not important
• Not important not urgent

The first category should be given the maximum priority. Then comes the “Important but not urgent” tasks. After that, you can focus on the 3rd one and then the last one which has the least priority in your life.

4. Use the visualization technique

Make the maximum use of visualization techniques to achieve your goals. Remember, your goals found their place in your head first. So, it has to start its journey from there only. Invest time to imagine that you have achieved the goal already. You can set some time in your daily routine to do this while you are relaxing. Close your eyes and put yourself in a situation where you can see yourself in the future after accomplishing the goal. Use your sense organs to feel everything around you. Try to be more vivid about the situation. See how you are interacting, what your actions are, and which people are there in that frame. The more you imagine yourself having achieved the goals, the more your subconscious mind will prepare your mind and body to help you reach your destination.

5. Kill procrastination

One of the best and most effective steps to achieve goals is to stop procrastinating. Be committed to the tasks that need your attention. Prepare your brain to even focus on the least desirable tasks on a daily basis. Tell yourself how important a task is and why you need to complete that. Also, make a daily to-do list for each goal in your life. Besides, introduce the 2 Minute Rule in your life. It means you need to start any new habit or task in less than 2 minutes.

6. Break your goals into mini-goals

You can never accomplish anything in life if you do not have a proper plan. So, while planning for goals, you need to break your goals into mini-goals. Then add your action plans and strategies to each one of them. Also, add the target date of each one. Thus, adding details like how and when you are going to achieve these mini-tasks will help you take correct and definite steps towards your big goals.

7. Track down all your activities

Once you are ready with the plan, prepare a calendar of activities. Take this as a project and add all the minute details of it to the calendar. You can either use Google calendar or download any other planner online. Track your progress regularly. Besides, look for the good and bad days and find out which factors were responsible for the outcome of those days. Thus, you will be able to know your weakness and help you find out how to overcome them.

8. Self-affirmation technique

Self-affirmations or positive affirmations help us to see our true potential. They make us more confident about ourselves and our abilities. Thus, self-affirmations can help us believe in ourselves that we can achieve anything we want. You can use this technique in 2 ways. The first one is writing down your goals in present progressive tense and reading them loudly every day. For example, if you want to be a multi-millionaire, then you should add,” I am acquiring and increasing wealth easily.” The other way to do this is to remind yourself of your attributes and qualities daily. For this, you need to write down your qualities and read them. For example, “ I am a creative person,” “I am patient,” etc. The main idea in both these methods is to believe in what you are saying.

9. Acquire knowledge

There might be goals that might have to gain more knowledge to better understand how to achieve them. So, invest time in acquiring as much knowledge as possible for these types of goals. Talk to friends or colleagues or someone who might have expertise in the subject. You can also do some research online. Besides, if the new goal necessitates taking up a new course or skill, you must know what knowledge you would require.

10. Accept failures

Setting up on a journey to achieving goals might not be an easy one. There might be hurdles, refusals, Nos, unfavorable circumstances, and unexpected turnouts. These barriers must not upset you but help you to show more commitment and perseverance towards your goals. If you can’t accept temporary failures, then you can never know the joy of accomplishing something big in life.

11. Reward yourself from time to time

The journey might be a big one but you need to celebrate every milestone you achieve. This will help you to remain motivated and positive to move forward to your next milestone. Any self-indulgent activity can lift your mood up and make you feel good about your achievement. A chocolate treat or reading a book or a home spa are some examples you can reward yourself for your victories.

Last but not the least, you need to focus on your goals and be serious about them. Then only you can follow the steps to achieve goals of any type in life. Remember, planning for goals is just presenting what you wish to achieve in your life. But, the most crucial point is how to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. So, unless you develop a “Never give up.” Attitude, you will never be able to succeed in achieving them.